Pioneers cruise to 117-54 win in season debut

Box Score
In their season opener Tuesday night, the Wayland Baptist men's basketball team wasted no time showing the home fans what they have to look forward to this year as the Pioneers rolled over Barclay College (Haviland, Kan.), 117-54, in Hutcherson Center.
 
Head coach Matt Garnett was elated with the way that his squad was ready to go in their first game of the year.
 
"It's always good to get out on the court under the lights and see how the guys react," Garnett started. "We've been working really hard all fall to get ready to play the first game, and our starters were very ready to play. We got off to a great, quick start, especially on defense."
 
Wayland (1-0) came out on fire, creating a 21-0 lead before Robbie Grey made a layup seven minutes into the game to give Barclay (0-1) its first points of the game.
 
The Pioneers continued to pour it on, going on a 25-7 run over the next seven minutes. Barclay's Tommy Leach made a 3-pointer to give the Bears double-digit points, but WBU was already in cruise control by then with a 46-12 lead.
 
Wayland amassed 40 points in the paint, 16 of which were on fast breaks, in the first half for a commanding 61-18 lead.
 
The Pioneer starters, who saw limited action in the first half, saw even less in the second half. After just one play after halftime, Garnett pulled all five for good and let his reserves gain some experience for the remainder of the contest.
 
"Our starters had a very productive three minutes," Garnett said. "Everyone works extremely hard in practice, and it's always good when (reserves) get a chance to play."
 
The Pioneer bench proved to be just as effective and outscored the Bears, 56-36, in the second period, giving WBU a 117-54 win. It marked the most points by the Pioneers and their largest margin of victory since a 121-38 win over Barclay in 2007.
 
Garnett was pleased with the outcome, but was quick to note that his team still must improve.
 
"When you get a big lead early in a game like that, it really challenges you to do the little things right," he explained. "We did the little things right at times and at other times we didn't, but tonight was a good learning tool.
 
"We have a lot of depth this year for sure," Garnett continued. "Tonight was a chance for some guys to get evaluated for the chance to get into the playing rotation. There is a lot of competition within our team and it's tough to get in there."
 
Freshman Brady Leissner led all scorers with 15 points and was followed by four other Pioneers in double digits. Buja Yaboe put in 14, Plamen Hristov and Joshua Cox each had 12 points, and Maurice Redmond scored 10.
 
Juhreece Thompson hauled in a game-high seven rebounds in just 12 minutes of play, closely followed by Yaboe and Redmond who had six boards each.
 
Garnett was impressed with everyone on his squad, but made note of a couple of players who stood out in the lopsided win.
 
"I think it's great that everyone scored tonight, with the exception of Travis (Payton)," Garnett said of the All-Sooner Athletic Conference veteran. "He's always had a major impact on the game for us other than scoring, and knowing his personality he won't care. That just shows the type of leader that he is.
 
"Maurice Redmond also stood out to me. He came in with a lot of good energy, and he has the potential to make an impact on our team as a true freshman, which is hard to do.
 
"I also have to say something about Thomas Curry. He's probably been as focused as a worker, and as good a teammate as you can be, and for him to come in and score nine points was great to see. Any opportunity that he gets is very well deserved."
 
Wayland returns to the court Nov. 7 in a doubleheader with the Flying Queens against the University of the Southwest. The Queens, who open at 7 p.m. Saturday against Huston-Tillotson, will tip off at 6 p.m. followed by the Pioneers at 8.
 
Garnett already is focused on the next task at hand, thinking of ways to prepare for the next game.
 
"Tonight was just the first step of  a really long journey," he said. "It's always great to get a win, but I'm really interested and excited for the challenge that we have to improve and grow as a team.
 
"We did a lot of good things tonight, but there was also a lot of things that we're going to have to do to get a whole lot better to become the team that we're trying to grow into."